The federal Homeland Security agency tasked with removing people illegally present in the country has released a couple hundred thousand immigrant families into the interior of the United States since late December, according to data obtained by the Washington Examiner. Those let loose will not be subject to deportation, at least not until after a hearing they are supposed to attend that is years away.

A total 218,400 people who either illegally entered the country or showed up without proper documentation at a port of entry along the southwest border were let go from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and set free in the U.S. between Dec. 21, 2018 through July 28.

All of those released were family units, which means each person arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border with a child or parent. {snip}

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A person applying for asylum this month is in line with approximately 900,000 cases in front of him or her. Families released from custody may live in any part of the U.S. while they await their court date.

{snip} However, an ICE official said the 218,400 individuals would have been given a Notice To Appear in federal immigration court at a future date, where a judge would decide his or her request to remain in the country.

The greatest number of people were released in the San Antonio region. Approximately 82,300 family units were released in central Texas.

Another 74,700 people were turned loose in El Paso, Texas. Phoenix has permitted 41,000 migrants held there to go free, and San Diego has released 20,400 people.

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As of June 30, more than 390,000 people who arrived with a family member have been arrested by Border Patrol. Another 37,000 people applied for asylum at ports of entry, according to Customs and Border Protection data. Roughly 360,000 are from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.